Leibster Award

I’ve been nominated for a Leibster award by See Jain Run, I was also nominated before Christmas by Erin at hodgepodgepilotswife.wordpress.com but never did get around to responding… sorry for that! It’s a cool idea and a cool way to find some new blogs, especially some that have a smaller following. See my list of blogs that I’m nominating at the bottom of the post.

1. What’s your favorite workout and why?

I think my favorite and possibly the most daunting workout is a tempo run or tempo intervals. They are challenging, and going into it, it feels almost impossible, but I love the feeling afterwards of nailing it. I have a 5-7 mile tempo coming up this week, so it’s feeling a little “real” to admit now that I love this workout, but I really do love a good ass kicking workout, and tempo’s are the hardest and most ass kicking in my book which also makes them my favorite (masochist much?)

2. What motivates you?

Motivation is currently something I do not struggle with, in fact, I’m probably bordering on obsessive; so it’s difficult to say exactly what drives the motivation/obsession. First of all, I simply love how I feel when I’m running, I love having a break in my day to do something that is simply just for me – and something that is good for me, that I don’t have to feel guilty over. I also love the results of running, it is making my body healthy and strong. Running also keeps me sane, when I’ve had a stressful day at work, or my kids are driving me bonkers, I love being outside and come home after my run feeling more calm and ready to tackle the rest of my life.

3. Looking back over your last year of training, what would you change and why?

I think I pushed myself too hard last summer/fall and did not take enough time for recovery. I jumped back into running really quickly after having surgery to remove a cyst and raced a half really hard. I then did race after race after race, and I was really lucky to not come out injured. My body is feeling really good now, and I’m trying to hold the reins a bit tighter and not sign up for every race that I hear about (though it’s super hard, because hearing about all the race reports from my friends is making me jealous, and I just want to get out there and run more races!!!)

4. What is your favorite thing to do as a training reward?

Training rewards almost always center around food or drink for me! I love anything breakfast related, so ideally I would love to go out for a yummy eggs benedict type breakfast – but alas, this is not doable when I’ve got kids at home, and a husband who often has a training run scheduled. Most weekends after my long run I will make a bacon and egg type sandwich for a post run snack/lunch, and will also soak in a nice hot Epson salt bath and read a magazine.

5. How do you get yourself going again after a training “funk”?

I don’t know if I’ve had a true training “funk” over the last few years. I think having kids and being forced to take breaks has re-energized me and kept my desire to keep training high. Perhaps that’s a good lesson though, that before we end up in a “funk” we need to back off, take a break, do other activities.6.

6. What hobbies do you have outside of the athletic?

I don’t have time for any other hobbies! Unless of course you count changing diapers, making supper, trying to keep my house in a livable state? I would love to go to more movies, read more, but I love all the other things that keep me busy, so I’ll stick with them for now 🙂

7. What is your go-to fuel (pre/during/post workout)?

Pre run, I will eat any sort of normal breakfast food, cereal, toast, even an egg sandwich. During long runs lately I’ve mostly been not fueling at all (see my blog post on that…), but when I do fuel, I don’t enjoy, but use gels because they are easy, and they work. Post workout, it all depends on how organized I am! I try to eat or drink something right away, so if I’m organized, a green smoothie is ideal.

8. What moment are you most proud of? (could be athletic or not).

I can never think of a single moment that I’m really proud of when I’m asked this question. I’m really proud of where I am right now as a runner, and where I’m going, as well as how I’ve been able to consistently build my mileage up in a controlled way. I’m also really proud of who I am as a mom in most ways. I am working hard to be a good example to my daughters and am hoping that provides them with the building blocks to be amazing women one day.

9. What is your most embarrassing workout story?

When I was 6 months postpartum after my first daughter I raced a half marathon and totally peed my pants! I hadn’t had an issue with bladder control running during my training up to that point, but that day I must have stepped up the effort and lost control. Luckily I was wearing black shorts, so I’m hoping no one noticed. Since having my second daughter I have the same issue from time to time and have just gotten used to it being part of the “fun” of being a mother-runner.

10. What’s your most challenging goal? What’s keeping you from going after it?

I think my most challenging goal is going to be to get my BQ (Boston Qualifying time)! I don’t think there is anything keeping me from going after it, except maybe that I don’t think I’m currently capable of that time. I’m hoping that perhaps in the fall I will be able to run a marathon fast enough. I’m certainly going to keep working at this one until I conquer it!

I’ll be notifying everyone via a blog comment in the next couple days, so if you are in the list and are reading this but haven’t been notified, I just took too long writing this post to do it tonight 🙂

Here are my questions:

1. Where would your dream vacation be?2. What does running or fitness mean to you?3. What is the funniest comment you’ve ever had in regards to your running?4. Name a gift that you’ll never forget.5. What personality trait or quality are you most proud of?
6. Who is the most inspiring person in your life, why?
7. Are you an animal person, dog or cat?
8. What would your dream race be?
9. What is your favorite down time activity if you have absolutely nothing pressing to do?
10. Who is your favorite fitness or running celebrity?

The Liebster Award Rules1. You must link back to the person who nominated you.2. You must answer the 10 Liebster questions given to you by the nominee before you.3. You must pick 10 bloggers to be nominated for the award (with a small following)4. You must create 10 questions for your nominees.5. You must go to their blogs and notify the nominees.

Thanks for the honour! I will have to break the Leibster rule of nominating 10 bloggers for the Leibster award, as it seems almost every blogger I know (and it’s not a lot) has done it at least once, but I will be happy to answer the questions!